“Hm…why include so much storage? The fortress has its own underground warehouses, does it not?” asked Doctor Kahnton as he looked over Sera’s plans. She’d designed the initial base zone with a number of warehouses at the corner closest to both the designated airfield and the elevator, where any incoming cargo could be easily moved from either point of entrance.
“It does, but even if we manage to restore power to the elevator, it would be more convenient to have at least some of our storage on the surface. We can reach the warehouses by stairs, but getting anything back up would take a lot of effort,” Sera explained.
“I see you designated a few spots for businesses on the main road but marked them as temporary barracks. What were you planning on doing with them?” Cadenza asked as she traced a finger over the area in question.
“Well, we’ll probably be using a lot of the buildings on that road as inns once we have more housing built, but we aren’t going to need an entire street of them. I thought we should include a few buildings with a layout that would work for pubs, restaurants, and other businesses someone staying here temporarily might need.” Sera knew that the buildings could just be torn down and replaced once their purpose was served, but it couldn’t hurt to save some effort by future proofing, in her opinion.
“I’ll defer to your expertise on that matter…I never would have thought to include a city planner in our roster,” Kahnton said, giving up on inspecting the map and giving a very human shrug. Although Sera’s first instinct was to insist she wasn’t an expert, she stopped herself, realizing that self-deprecation at this point would only hold up the process. Her plans probably weren’t perfect, or even good, but they would still be better than haphazardly placing enough buildings to accommodate two hundred or so people wherever there was enough space.
“The backstreets are mostly apartments and small houses, but I left a few spaces here and there for green spaces so we don’t end up with nothing but urban sprawl,” Sera explained as she pointed out a few empty lots. It was debatable whether those spots would get enough sun to sustain much plant life, but trees could probably survive as long as their branches made it above the surrounding buildings if nothing else. “I also allocated enough space for around a dozen airships the same size as yours to land comfortably. We can always consider expanding that field later, but I thought we may as well take advantage of the farmland for now, assuming it can grow any crops we’re able to eat.”
“Even if they can’t, the earth mages we brought should be able to alter the soil to make it arable,” Cadenza offered, pointing out a cluster of men and women listening in a short distance away. They were waiting on Doctor Kahnton’s permission to begin working on construction. No one felt much urgency since the airship they’d arrived on wasn’t going anywhere and could act as shelter if needed, though it was uncomfortably cramped.
“We will also be in need of facilities dedicated to research and administration,” Doctor Kanhton pointed out, moving on.
“I wanted to get your opinion on that,” Sera acknowledged, indicating she hadn’t just overlooked it. “We’re building close to the elevator for a reason, but eventually you’ll be doing a lot of work closer to the original town. Did you want a spot close to the elevator for easy access now or one closer to the ruins for later?”
“Mmmm…closer to the town, I think. We should begin sifting through the ruins immediately before the elements being to take their toll,” the doctor decided, correcting Sera’s misconception. She’d assumed they would want to examine any artifacts exhumed from below first since exploration was beginning immediately, but in hindsight this did make more sense. It wouldn’t be that great an effort to carry things from the elevator to the other side of the settlement anyway.
“Alright, then we’ll designate these buildings for that until we can start constructing closer to the keep. Was there anything else?” Sera leaned over and wrote labels on a pair of buildings on the edge of town closest to the ruins.
“I believe that should be good for now. It shouldn’t take long to revise the layout later if we discover inefficiencies,” Doctor Kanhton said. He turned to the earth mages and handed over the plans. “We can leave the individual buildings plans to these fine people.”
Sera wanted to question the doctor’s claim about how easy it revisions would be, but she was distracted by the mages beginning their work. They each looked at the map briefly before spreading out, with one man immediately beginning work on the main street. The path from the elevator to town was already paved, but it wasn’t very wide and mostly just consisted of roughly smoothed stones. Sera watched as one mage held out his hands and every stone in fifty meters in front of him shattered at once, then dirt began to coalesce into gravel. In moments he had a wide stretch of what resembled dry concrete, which began to sink into fluid emerging from below.
Once all the gravel had vanished, the fluid evened out, rapidly becoming a flat surface several meters wide and fifty long. As Sera watched, the transmuted concrete solidified, as if she was witnessing a time lapse of poured cement curing. One man had just performed a day’s work of an entire construction crew in moments. Maybe the doctor wasn’t so wrong after all.
The earth mage stepped forward onto his concrete road and walked to the other side, repeating the process to extend it further. Sera looked around to find the other mages laying out the streets she’d mapped in the same fashion. Plants were ejected from the ground like they’d been released at the bottom of a lake and flowed to the edges of the work area in a wave. Rocks were pulled to the surface in some places while in others the dirt itself transformed, and before Sera knew it she was looking at neatly laid out streets where a field had been.
“That was…faster than I expected,” she muttered in awe, looking around dumbly. Tiriana laughed and patted Sera on the shoulder, making her jump. The elf had been so quiet during the meeting that Sera forgot she was there.
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“Keep watching, it’s a good demonstration. I wouldn’t have been able to give you an example of earth magic this good myself,” Tiriana replied, smiling wryly.
“I thought everyone was taking it easy because they could just sleep on the ship if we took so long, but…now I see they only ever needed a few minutes,” Sera commented as the mages gathered to raise the first building. She had noticed when she first arrived that the buildings in the first base camp looked like they’d been pulled from the ground wholesale, and she was proven right when the group of earth mages seemed to reach into the ground and lift four walls up fully formed.
She watched with Tiriana as the mages approached the walls and laid their hands on various spots, which turned out to be a precursor to doors and windows melting into existence, the dirt that was once there flowing down and returning to the earth, leaving perfectly formed portals in the walls. Then the walls contracted, expelling all moisture and transforming into the material she’d likened to adobe. When she had felt it before, it had been solid but slightly squishy, probably so that it could absorb shocks without shattering.
“I was expecting them to install the magic tools and other fixtures while they were putting the building together,” Sera commented as the mages entered the building empty handed. She could see them forming the floor and interior walls through the empty windows.
“Even when the earth is fully hardened a good earth mage can easily manipulate it like putty. It’s easier for them to build the structure first, then just sink the fixtures into their positions later,” Tiriana explained.
“Well, they seem to have things well in hand,” Doctor Kahnton said, nodding approvingly. “I believe I will begin organizing some teams to sift through the ruins before the youngsters start getting bored. Good day to you all.”
“I should probably start dividing up my parties and deciding who will do the first delves, but I wanted to talk to you two first,” Cadenza said, turning to Tiriana and Sera as the doctor walked away. “Would you allow me to join you on your own delve?”
“Why us?” Tiriana questioned. “Surely you have your own party.”
“I did, once.” Cadenza gave a melancholy smile, reminiscing, but then snapped back to reality and hurried to clarify. “Oh, they’re not dead or anything. It’s just that I’m not the only one that moved up the ranks. My old team have scattered to lead their own parties now. They’re all here, but they need to get used to giving their own orders, and if I go with them they’ll defer to me instinctively.”
“…and so would the other party leaders, just because you’re their boss,” Tiriana concluded. “I don’t mind, but we’ll need a few others to round the team out. Vivi is a given, but I think I might be able to convince Jonas and Ixtris if they haven’t wandered in by themselves yet.”
“You have two others with experience in this dungeon, don’t you? Rinnie and Layla, I believe.” Cadenza looked like she was scheming to Sera’s eyes.
“Well, yes, but they’re not exactly cooperative,” Tiriana hedged, displeasure on her face.
“Layla doesn’t really like being told what to do,” Sera added.
“I didn’t get my position only by virtue of my leadership,” Cadenza told them confidently. The adventurer looked away and Sera followed her line of sight to find Layla stomping in their direction. “Ah! Right on time.”
“What is the meaning of this?” Layla growled, throwing a crumpled piece of paper to the ground at Cadenza’s feet.
“Ah, I had assumed you were literate. I apologize if I was mistaken. Would you like me to read it for you?” Cadenza mocked. Sera and Tiriana stared at the woman wide-eyed while Layla seemed to combust inside her armor.
“I know what it says. What I wish to know is why you believe you can give me orders,” the armored woman ground out, hand already drifting towards her axe.
“You’re currently a free agent, are you not? And I do believe you’re the type to respect strength. It stands to reason that you follow the strongest adventurer present,” Cadenza told her calmly, talking down to Layla despite being several inches shorter. It was probably only her imagination, but Sera thought she could hear Layla grinding her teeth in rage.
“I assume you are ready to prove it,” she declared as she whipped her poleax from her back and backed up several steps.
“Naturally. Come at me whenever you’re ready.” Cadenza glanced at Tiriana and Sera. “Oh, you can stay put. This will be over before she even reaches me.” Sera looked at Tiriana uncertainly and found the elf returning the look. In unison they nodded and then started backing up.
“How much do you intend to insult me!? Do you not even intend to draw your weapons?” Layla barked. Cadenza seemed to think about it for a moment.
“If you insist. I believe…one should suffice.” With a flick of her finger, one of the swords on Cadenza’s back lifted from its sheath, revealing its form to everyone for the first time. It was plain and unadorned, little more than a naked blade bereft of hilt and crossguard. Even the tang was likely there only so that the weapon could be moved; however Cadenza fought, it clearly didn’t include carrying a sword in her hands.
Layla’s fury reached a boiling point at last and she began to step forward. The blade had been a misdirection, though. Cadenza pointed at the ground with her other hand and said one word: “Fall.” In an instant Layla crashed to the ground, caught in a moment of unbalance as she tried to advance. She didn’t simply collapse, she seemed to accelerate towards the ground as if throwing herself at it. Cadenza flicked a finger forward, the same one she’d drawn her weapon with, and a moment later the sword was at Layla’s neck.
“Do you yield?”
There was no answer for several seconds. Layla fought to rise, grunting with exertion, but her limbs may as well have been glued to the ground. After a short and fruitless struggle the woman went limp.
“I yield.” Immediately whatever was holding her down abated and Layla rose to her feet slowly. Her eyes locked onto Cadenza, who said nothing, simply waiting for Layla to speak. “I will…follow your command,” she said at last, resignation in her voice.
“You will meet us at the elevator tomorrow morning at eight. Dismissed,” Cadenza ordered. Layla, after one last glare, turned and left. No one spoke until Layla was out of sight, but that time gave Sera a chance to get a good look at Cadenza, and she realized the woman was sweating profusely. Once Layla was out of earshot, Cadenza slumped, lurching forward until she could rest against the wall of the building they’d watched the creation of just minutes ago.
“Anyone else think she’s going to get revenge at the first opportunity?” Sera asked in concern. Cadenza shook her head, though.
“She won’t. She respects the strong, and as far as she knows I just crushed her effortlessly. It’s a good thing she yielded when she did, though, because I couldn’t have held her much longer. That woman is monstrously strong,” Cadenza panted with exhaustion.
“How did you even do that? Her mana should have prevented you from manipulating her armor," Tiriana asked while retrieving Cadenza’s sword. The woman hadn’t even had the strength left to return it to its sheath.
“Let me catch my breath and I’ll explain.”